The former chairman of Ullico, a
union-owned insurer, refused to testify yesterday before a Congressional
committee investigating accusations that the insurer's board members earned
more than $6 million through insider trading.

Appearing under subpoena, Robert
A. Georgine, Ullico's former chairman and chief executive, asserted his Fifth
Amendment right against compelled self-incrimination in refusing to answer
questions before the House Education and Workforce Committee.

Forced to resign his Ullico posts
last month, Mr. Georgine is under federal and state investigation on
accusations of insider trading along with several other current and former
board members.

Mr. Georgine told the committee
that he was confident he had done nothing wrong, but added that his lawyer had
advised him not to testify.

''There are many questions that
remain unanswered about the Ullico scandal, and rank-and-file union members
deserve answers,'' Representative John A. Boehner, the Ohio Republican who is
the committee's chairman, said. ''At the very same time that union leaders were
joining the chorus of well-deserved criticism of Enron and others for corporate
misconduct, Ullico set up a system of insider stock deals that made millions
for the board at the expense of rank-and-file union members.''

Mr. Georgine and more than a dozen
other board members made large profits buying and reselling Ullico's stock. The
stock deals so upset many labor leaders that they organized a slate of
directors that won control of Ullico's board and pushed out Mr. Georgine.

Randall Turk, a lawyer for Mr.
Georgine, said of his client: ''He declined to testify because there are
numerous government investigations pending, and the Fifth Amendment is designed
not just to protect people who have done something wrong, but to protect every
American who is being investigated. It's his constitutional right to remain
silent.''